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How to Clean a Beyond-Filthy Printer

Do you know that printers need to be cleaned to function at top capacity? How dirty is your printer? If you don’t know, we can walk you through the steps to clean that filthy little bugger, no matter if it’s an ink-jet or laser printer.

There are certain steps to follow no matter which printer you own. First, collect a soft cloth, cleaning fluid made for plastic (water is the best) and find your printer manual. Your manufacturer may provide specific instructions for cleaning your printer. If so, you can stop reading now. Otherwise, continue to learn how to make your printer look and act like new.

No matter which printer you use, ink-jet or laser, you’ll need to turn off that printer. You can take the extra step of unplugging the printer as well. Then, dampen the cloth with water and wipe the outside of the printer. Make sure you don’t drip water inside your printer.

Now for the steps to take for the specific printers:

Ink-Jet Printer: Cleaning Cartridges or Ink Nozzles

Use the cleaning process on your printer if your computer has that option. Click on “start > “printers and faxes.”

Open the printer software by double-clicking on a printer icon or by right-clicking on the printer icon.

Laser Printer

Go to your printer manufacturer’s Web site for detailed instructions on manual cartridge cleaning and interior cleaning. Otherwise, there are a few other issues to consider before you begin cleaning a laser printer:

Laser toner is messy, toxic and easily airborne. You don’t want this stuff in your lungs. So, make sure the air in the cleaning area is stable (no fans, no open windows) and wear a disposable mask and latex gloves.

Leave the printer area for several minutes after cleaning to let the fine toner particles settle. Then you can vacuum up the mess, open windows, etc.

Read the U.S. Pollution Prevention page to learn more about toxic laser toner precautions.

Most laser printers are fairly expensive, and opening the case to clean it may void the warranty.

Extra equipment you’ll need to clean the laser printer:

Toner vacuum to vacuum toner from crevices and paper paths.

Toner cloth to clean up excess toner after vacuuming. Use the cloth outside the case in the paper path. Do not use inside the case because you could leave remnants of the cloth inside.

Lint-free cotton swabs to clean the corona wire. Use in conjunction with alcohol.

Isopropyl alcohol. Use pure alcohol to clean the corona wire gently.

If you’ve decided at this point that you don’t want to clean your laser printer, we don’t blame you. Hire a professional or read more details at Dummies.com (How to Clean Your Laser Printer). Otherwise, here you go:

Manually Clean Inside the Printer

Remove the internal paper trays.

Remove the toner cartridge and place it on a piece of scrap paper.

Clean inside the toner cavity with the dry, lint-free cloth and brush.

Clean the printer mirror gently with the brush. Don’t touch the mirror if a brush isn’t provided.

Wipe away dust and spilled toner. Remove paper fragments.

Clean the rollers, but don’t touch the sponge roller.

Replace the toner cartridge.

Initiating Automatic Cleaning Through Printer Software

Open the printer software by double-clicking on a printer icon or specific printer utility program, or opening a document and then selecting Print from the File menu.